Slip form apparatus for constructing circular structures

ABSTRACT

A mold arrangement for pouring an upright, cylindrical concrete wall essentially consists of a central supporting column, a circumferential mold, a carrier assembly vertically slidable on the column, and a hoist for raising and lowering the carrier assembly which includes radial beams whose inner and outer ends are fastened to a hub annular about the column and to the mold respectively by loose hinge pins or like releasable connectors permitting quick assembly and disassembly of the mold arrangement. A modified mold arrangement for larger structures has an annular frame spacedly intermediate the hub and the mold, and auxiliary columns vertically guiding the frame.

United States Patent [191 Heinzle July 29, 1975 [76] Inventor: Otto Heinzle, Sonderberg 19, 6840 Gotzis (Vorarlberg), Austria [22] Filed: Oct. 12, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 405,880

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 13, 1972 Austria 8812/72 [52] U.S. Cl. 425/63; 249/1; 249/20 [51] Int. Cl B281) 1/14 [58] Field of Search 425/63-65;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,202,647 10/1916 Barrett 425/64 3,509,606 5/1970 Fisher 3,510,098 5/1970 Fox 3,521,335 7/1970 Heinzle 1619,43] 11/1971 Weaver et a1 425/64 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,292,364 4/1969 Germany 425/63 Primary Examiner-Robert D. Baldwin Assistant Examiner-John McQuade Attorney, Agent, or FirmHans Berman [5 7] ABSTRACT A mold arrangement for pouring an upright, cylindrical concrete wall essentially consists of a central supporting column, a circumferential mold, a carrier assembly vertically slidable on the column, and a hoist for raising and lowering the carrier assembly which includes radial beams whose inner and outer ends are fastened to a hub annular about the column and to the mold respectively by loose hinge pins or like releasable connectors permitting quick assembly and disassembly of the mold arrangement. A modified mold arrangement for larger structures has an annular frame spacedly intermediate the hub and the mold, and auxiliary columns vertically guiding the frame.

9 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures PATENTED LZ B S 3, 897, 182

SHEET 1 Fig. 1

PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEET PATENTEDJULZQIHYS 3,897, 182 SiiEET 3 32 I" "In PATENTEB JUL29 I975 SHEET PATENTED mews 3; 897, 182

SHEET 6 m Fig. 12 I51 s1. Til? j i 3(0) LLL n l SLIP FORM APPARATUS FOR CONSTRUCTING CIRCULAR STRUCTURES This invention relates to molds for pouring concrete, and particularly to a form or mold arrangement for pouring an upright wall extending in a closed loop.

It is common practice to pour the upright walls of silos, swimming pools and similar structures which extend in a closed horizontal loop, arcuate or angular, by means of vertically open molds or forms which are raised in steps and in which annular portions of the wall are poured sequentially, the lowermost portion being poured on the ground or a previously built base, and each subsequent portion being poured on the next lower, at least partly cured portion.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a mold arrangement suitable for the afore-described operation which is quickly assembled and disassembled, even when dimensioned for pouring a structure having transverse dimensions of 40 feet or more.

With this object and others in view, the invention provides a mold arrangement in which a carrier assembly is mounted on a supporting column having an upright axis, the carrier assembly including a hub, annular about the column axis and slidably engaging the column, a plurality of elongated beams, and fastening devices which releasably fasten one longitudinal end portion of each beam to the hub in a position in which the direction of elongation of each beam is substantially horizontal. The mold assembly proper includes a plurality of upright sheets which jointly constitute an outer mold wall and an inner mold wall, respectively remote from and near the column axis, and spaced from each other in the direction of beam elongation. Securing devices releasably secure respective portions of each of the walls to the other longitudinal end portions of the beams, the secured walls depending fromthe beams and holding the associated end portions in transversely spaced relationship. A hoisting arrangement is provided for raising and lowering the hub, and thereby the entire carrier assembly together with the mold walls.

Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily become apparent as the same as better understood by reference to the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when considered with the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a mold arrangement of the invention in partly fragmentary elevational section through the axis of its supporting column;

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1 on a larger scale;

FIG. 3 shows elements of the apparatus of FIG. 1 in a perspective view;

FIG. 4 shows the device of FIG. 3 in section on the line IV IV;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view, partly diagrammatic, of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates the apparatus of FIG. 5 in fragmentary elevational section on the line VI VI;

FIG. 7 shows an element of the apparatus of FIG. 5 in an elevational view;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 shows a detail of the mold assembly, common to all illustrated embodiments of the invention, in fragmentary elevation;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view of the device of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 illustrates a portion of a third embodiment of the invention in section on line XI XI in FIG. 12;

FIG. 12 shows the device of FIG. 11 in front elevation;

FIG. 13 shows an enlarged, fragmentary, sideelevational section of the device of FIG. 12 taken on the line XIII XIII;

FIG. 14 shows the device of FIG. 13 in top plan view on the scale of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary top plan view of the third embodiment on a scale smaller than that of FIGS. 11 to 14, and partly diagrammatic.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, and initially to FIG. 1, there is seen the partly completed, cylindrical, upright concrete wall 1 of a silo having a diameter of about 20 feet. A supporting column 2, coaxial with the wall 1, stands on the previously poured and cured concrete floor 3 of the silo. A tubular hub 4 equipped with a flanged antifriction bushing 24 is vertically slidably mounted on the column 2. Twelve cantilevered beams 10, of which only two are seen in FIG. 1, are equiangularly fastened to the hub 4, as will presently be described in more detail. The beams are flat, triangular lattice girders tapering radically outward in respective vertical planes. There narrow ends carry fixed, radial sleeves 18 in which rods 19 are movably received. The outwardly projecting portions of the rods pass through lugs 20 from which the outer wall 21 and the inner wall 22 of the mold for the silo wall I depend. The top edges of the walls 21, 22 are held in the desired, radially spaced relationship by spacers 28 circumferentially distributed about the axis of the column 2, only one spacer being visible in FIG. 1.

The carrier assembly for the mold proper which con sists mainly of the hub 4, the beams 10, and the fastening devices attaching the inner ends of the beams to the hub, may be raised and lowered by means of a hoisting cable 23 one end of which is attached to the bushing 24, and which is trained over a guide pully 25 atop the column 2 and a guide pulley 40 on the beams 10 near the hub 4. The other end of the cable 23 is wound on a winch 26 which may be turned manually and arrested in a manner conventional and not shown. The winch 26 stands on a platform constituted by wooden plates 15 resting on the horizontal upper chords of the beams 10.

The hub 4 and associated elements are shown in FIG. 2, but the bushing 24, normally received in the bore 5 of the hub 4, has been omitted for the sake of clarity. Upper and lower radial flanges 6, 7 on the hub 4 have aligned openings corresponding in number to the beams 10. A heavy-walled tube 12 is welded to the transverse strut l1, perpendicular to the upper chord 17, of each beam 10 and dimensioned to fit axially between the flanges 6, 7 so that a heavy hinge pin 13 may pass through the openings in the flanges and the aligned bore of the tube 12 and pivotally connect the beam 10 to the hub 4. The pin 13 is secured in its axial position by gravity and by a fixed collar 14 abuttingly engaging the top face of the upper flange 6. The free upper end of the pin 13 is obliquely bent in a radially outward direction to provide a readily accessible handle for withdrawing the pin when it is desired to disengage the beam 10 from the hub 4.

As is better seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the upper chord 17 consists of a square box section, and the other elements of the beam consist of the same material which, in an actual embodiment of the invention corresponding to the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 4, has cross sectional dimensions of 40 mm X 40 mm. The wooden plates are sector-shaped and are provided at their undersides with rails 16 which fit between circumferentially adjacent upper chords 17 so that the seams in the platform diverge radially from the hub 4 along the beams 10. The approximately equiangular distribution of the beams 10 about the axis of the column 2 is maintained partly by the rails 16, but mainly by the integral lugs 20 of the mold walls 21, 22.

As is inherent in the structure described above, and illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the mold arrangement of the invention can be released from the last-poured and partly cured concrete of the silo wall 1 by removing the spacers 28 which are held by gravity only to the top edges of the mold walls. The walls may then be moved apart on the rods 19 sufficiently to release them from the silo, whereupon the carrier assembly together with the mold may be raised by means of the winch 26 to a position suitable for pouring another annular portion of the wall 1 in which the mold walls 21, 22 are returned to a radial position in which their lowermost parts engage the previously poured portion of the wall 1, and the tops may be secured by the spacers 28.

When pouring of the wall 1 is completed, and the concrete in the wall has cured sufficiently to make it self-supporting and shape-retaining, the mold arrangement is disassembled quickly by removing the spacers 28, the rods 19, and the mold walls 21, 22, lowering the carrier assembly to the silo floor 3, releasing the cable 23 from the bushing 24 and reeling it on the winch 26, withdrawing the hinge pins 13, and lifting the individual, relatively light parts of the carrier assembly and the column 2 from the interior of the silo. The mold arrangement is assembled just as quickly for use at a new building site.

Two modified embodiments of the invention have been shown in the drawing only as far as they differ from the apparatus of FIGS. 1 to 4, and will be understood to be closely similar to or identical with the firstdescribed mold arrangement as far as not stated and shown otherwise.

The arrangement shown in simplified plan view in FIG. 5 is intended for construction of upright cylindrical walls of relatively great diameter, such as 40 feet or more, which would require beams of great length and weight if only dimensionally different from the firstdescribed example of the invention.

An intermediate, annular frame of circumferential sections 31 is connected to the central hub 4 by sixteen elongated girder elements 35 radiating from the hub 4' like the spokes of a wheel. Thirty-two radial beams 36, equiangularly distributed about the axis of the carrier assembly, connect the intermediate frame to the circumferential mold, not shown in detail in FIG. 5. Three guide sleeves 38 are set upright into the frame sections 31. Each frame section 31 consists of two identical, radially connected flat lattice structures, each including an upper chord 41, a lower chord 42, and vertical as well as oblique connecting struts, as is best seen in FIG. 7 in which only one lattice structure is visible. Pairs of hinge barrels 32 are vertically aligned on the outer face of each lattice structure, and the sleeves 38 are fixedly mounted between the two lattice structures of associated sections in the manner evident from FIG. 8.

As is shown in FIG. 6, the central hub 4 of the mold arrangement extends about the vertical axis 30 of the supporting column, itself ommitted from FIG. 6, and the rectangular girder elements 35 are pivotally fastened to the hub 4 by means of a first set of hinge pins 13, as described with reference to FIG. 2. The three sleeves 38 receive respective auxiliary columns 2 which vertically guide the intermediate frame when the carrier assembly of the modified apparatus is raised or lowered by means of a hoisting mechanism. manual or motor driven, of which only a cable 23' attached to a sleeve 38 is seen in FIG. 6.

The girder elements 35, themselves fastened to the hub 4' by means of the hinge pins 13, fasten the frame sections 31 to the hub by means of hinges 13' of a second set, and identical hinges 13' of a third set fasten each beam 36 to a frame section 31. The vertical transverse strut 34 of each beam 36 and girder element 35 contiguously adjacent the frame section 31 carries two hinge barrels 33 dimensioned for alignment with associated hinge barrels 32 on the frame section so that a hinge pin 13 may be driven through the aligned barrels in the hinges of the second and third sets.

The beams 36 are lattice girders closely similar to the afore-described beams 10, and their upper chords 17 carry wooden plate sections 15 which taper toward the intermediate frame. Additional plate sections 15 are laid on the upper chords of the girder elements 35 to provide a working platform. The vertically narrow outer ends of the beams 36 carry radial sleeves 18 slidably receiving rods 19' for engagement with lugs 20 on the mold walls 21', 22' as described above.

Each outer mold wall in the illustrated three embodiments of the invention consists of circumferentially juxtaposed metal sheets 21a abuttingly engaging each other along axial seams 43 as is seen in FIGS. 9 and 10. The upright edges of the sheets are reinforced with heavy, square, vertical bars 44, 45, and by horizontal lengths of pipe 46 welded to the sheets 21a and to the bars 44, 45, the bores of the pipes being aligned with corresponding bores in the bars so that the edges of the sheets may be fastened to each other tightly by means of threaded tie rods 47, each received in two pipes of respective mold sheets. The tie rods 47 are loosened before vertically shifting the mold, and are removed when all concrete necessary for a wall has been poured and cured.

The several sheets of the inner mold walls 22 and the intermediate frame sections are also circumferentially connected in a manner evident from FIGS. 9 and 10.

The third embodiment of the invention, partly illustrated in FIGS. 11 to 15, is identical with that described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, except as is explicitly shown. Its carrier assembly is simpler, lighter, and somewhat less flexible at some loss in the convenience of assembly and disassembly.

The intermediate frame 50 of the carrier assembly consists of circumferential sections of which only one is partly seen in FIGS. 11 to 14. The section is a rectangular girder. It includes an upper, horizontal chord 51, a lower chord 52, and vertical and diagonal struts 53 connecting the two chords. Short lengths of pipe 54 whose axes are radial relative to the vertical axis of symmetry of the apparatus are welded to the chords 5], 52 in circumferentially spaced relationship, a pipe 54 on the upper chord 51 being vertically aligned with each pipe 54 on the lower chord 52.

The beams 36' which connect the intermediate frame with the mold walls 21 22" in a manner obvious from the preceding description and only diagrammatically indicated in FIG. 15, are equipped with pipe lengths 55 .on their upper and lower chords which are dimensioned to permit each pipe 55 to be attached to a pipe 54 on the intermediate frame by means of a tie rod 5 passing through both pipes. Columns 2 guide the intermediate frames in a vertical direction, and support the weight of the carrier assembly and of the mold walls 21", 22". A sleeve 57 is slidably mounted on each auxiliary column, and may be raised or lowered by a hoisting mechanism, in a manner not shown, but not different from what has been described above with reference to FIG. 6. Each sleeve 57 carries a fixed bracket 58 and two receptacles or cradles 59 welded to the bracket. The receptacles 59 are approximately U-shaped and upwardly open, as is best seen in FIG. 11, and receive the lower chord 52 of an associated frame section.

As is best seen in FIG. 15, there is no central column, and the three columns 2" support a carrier assembly in which the sleeves 57 and the frame 50 jointly constitute a hub member, and defining a vertically open, approximately circular passage through the frame 50.

While the invention has been described with reference to silos and similar concrete structures having cylindrical, upright walls, it has been used successfully in the construction of concrete walls which extend in an angular closed shape such as the rectangular shape of a swimming pool wall or other tank for liquid. The modifications of the illustrated mold arrangements for angular shapes will readily suggest themselves. Actually, walls not extending in a closed shape are also built successfully with mold arrangements including the basic features of this invention.

It should be understood, therefore, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mold arrangement for pouring a concrete mixture comprising:

a. a plurality of upright columns;

b. a plurality of sleeve members;

c. an annular frame,

1. said sleeve members being mounted on said frame in circumferentially spaced relationship and slidably receiving said columns respectively;

(I. a plurality of elongated beam members;

e. fastening means releasably fastening one longitudinal end portion of each beam member to said frame in a position in which the direction of elongation of each beam member is substantially horizontal and outwardly away from said frame;

f. a mold assembly including a plurality of upright sheet members jointly constituting an outer mold wall and an inner mold wall respectively remote from and near said frame and spaced from each other in said direction;

g. securing means releasably securing respective portions of each of said walls to the other longitudinal end portions of said beam members, the secured walls depending from said beam members and holding said other end portions in transversely spaced relationship; and

h. means for holding said sleeve-members in predetermined vertical positions on said upright columns and for thereby transmitting a portion of the weight of said frame and of said mold assembly to each of said columns.

2. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a supporting column having an upright axis, a hub member annular about said axis and slidably engaging said column, said frame spacedly enveloping said hub member and being fastened to said hub member.

3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2, wherein said further including a platform constituted by a plurality of plate members horizontally superposed on said beam members, each plate member tapering in a direction from said mold assembly toward said axis.

4. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said frame is constituted by a plurality of frame sections releasably fastened to each other.

5. An arrangement as set forth in claim 4, wherein each of said frame sections is a lattice girder.

6. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2, wherein said further including a plurality of elongated fastening elements and three sets of pivots, the pivots of one of said sets being operatively interposed between respective first longitudinal end portions of said fastening elements and said hub member, the pivots of the second set being operatively interposed between said frame and respective second longitudinal end portions of said fastening elements, and the pivots of the third set being operatively interposed between said frame and said beam members respectively.

7. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mold walls extend in respective closed shapes about said frame.

8. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of upright columns consists of three columns.

9. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said annular frame defines an approximately circular, vertically open passage. 

1. A mold arrangement for pouring a concrete mixture comprising: a. a plurality of upright columns; b. a plurality of sleeve members; c. an annular frame,
 1. said sleeve members being mounted on said frame in circumferentially spaced relationship and slidably receiving said columns respectively; d. a plurality of elongated beam members; e. fastening means releasably fastening one longitudinal end portion of each beam member to said frame in a position in which the direction of elongation of each beam member is substantially horizontal and outwardly away from said frame; f. a mold assembly including a plurality of upright sheet members jointly constituting an outer mold wall and an inner mold wall respectively remote from and near said frame and spaced from each other in said direction; g. securing means releasably securing respective portions of each of said walls to the other longitudinal end portions of said beam members, the secured walls depending from said beam members and holding said other end portions in transversely spaced relationship; and h. means for holding said sleeve members in predetermined vertical positions on said upright columns and for thereby transmitting a portion of the weight of said frame and of said mold assembly to each of said columns.
 2. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a supporting column having an upright axis, a hub member annular about said axis and slidably engaging said column, said frame spacedly enveloping said hub member and being fastened to said hub member.
 3. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2, wherein said further including a platform constituted by a plurality of plate members horizontally superposed on said beam members, each plate member tapering in a direction from said mold assembly toward said axis.
 4. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said frame is constituted by a plurality of frame sections releasably fastened to each other.
 5. An arrangement as set forth in claim 4, wherein each of said frame sections is a lattice girder.
 6. An arrangement as set forth in claim 2, wherein said further including a plurality of elongated fastening elements and three sets of pivots, the pivots of one of said sets being operatively interposed between respective first longitudinal end portions of said fastening elements and said hub member, the pivots of the second set being operatively interposed between said frame and respective second longitudinal end portions of said fastening elements, and the pivots of the third set being operatively interposed between said frame and said beam members rEspectively.
 7. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said mold walls extend in respective closed shapes about said frame.
 8. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said plurality of upright columns consists of three columns.
 9. An arrangement as set forth in claim 1, wherein said annular frame defines an approximately circular, vertically open passage. 